In the past couple of years, inter-industry collaborations have become increasingly common with all types of products. While brands have been cross-pollinating their unique vision and ethos with other industries, it was only a matter of time before cool collaborators found their way to the golf world.

My name is Gordon Holden (Consume Cool) and I have created a new body of artwork for the streetwear-inspired golf brand based in LA, Malbon Golf. Malbon is one of the cool trendsetting collaborators in the golf world making products from fashion to function. They have worked with a hand full of brands including big names such as Puma, Nike, Ecco, and the NBA. The main thing that you will recognize with Malbon is that they are all about expanding the game of golf in an attractive way to the youth while ultimately changing the perception people have towards it.

I started Consume Cool originally as a simple sticker in the Coca-Cola font back in 2011. It slowly morphed into an art project that focused on the conceptual aspects of consumerism and brand identity. The project is unique in the sense that it doubles as a brand using the words Consume Cool to create limited edition products and artworks across all different platforms.

Consume Cool Logo

Being an artist is hard work but it also has its downtime. So I tend to golf a good amount. Although I have only started playing golf a bit more regularly and seriously within the past year, I was lucky enough to move into a place in Los Angeles that is about a 100 yard walk to a par 3 golf course and a mile away from a full course with a driving range. From the beginning, golf has been an activity as well as a culture that that has captured my attention (some people close to me would say a little too much attention).

From the age-old quest of pursuing the goal of getting better and lowering my handicap to learning about the styles, philosophy, and history of the game, I have realized it is a thing that can be a great unifier and never perfected. With this in mind, I wanted to think of ways that I could integrate my work with golf.

Sure the game of golf has its flashes of creativity, but what can really hold your attention and pique your curiosity to the game as an outsider looking in? I believe combining art and golf can be achieved by intertwining the moments we experience on the golf course with the day to day life we all carry on.

Simply put, these artworks were inspired by hip-hop, art, and golf. Trying to find a way for them all to fit together was a fascinating experience because sometimes things that have nothing to do with each other in the beginning can turn out to have a lot in common in the end. I have created Consume Cool products and artworks in the past that incorporate golf like the below Master’s rendition and wanted to bring something new to the space.

Then once I heard about Malbon Golf through a friend, immediately I wanted to know more about what they were doing. It seemed different than most golf brands and that had a huge pull. Malbon Golf as a brand understands contemporary COOL and infuses that concept with the game of golf by creating unique collaborations. To the outsider of golf, the game can be perceived as a stale sport that old people wearing khakis play when they retire. But with this collaboration, we wanted to shake up the common perception and old stigmas to show the new relationship between the two worlds and really emphasize the “cool”. No better way than to combine hip-hop, art, and golf.

The collaboration consists of a limited edition COOL T-shirt and an artwork series of 4 split bedroom posters that take golf and hip-hop and merge the coolness of the two worlds. It is an extension of an ongoing body of work titled Coming of Age. These works were apart of the Summer Club House in Southampton, NY put on by Malbon Golf x Foray Golf.

Check out the entire collection below and I hope you enjoy my creative contributions to the game of golf.